Royals going with 13 pitchers until break

By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com

TORONTO -- Manager Ned Yost is inclined to go with 13 pitchers up until the All-Star break. An extra arm was added in the latest roster moves on Wednesday, as pitchers Louis Coleman and Nate Adcock were brought up from the Minors and pitcher Vin Mazzaro and outfielder Mitch Maier were dropped.

Adcock and Coleman both have been up with the Royals previously this season. Adcock has a 0-3 record and 3.12 ERA in nine games, including two starts. Coleman is 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA in 17 games. Mazzaro departed for Triple-A Omaha with a 3-3 record and 5.70 ERA in eight games, including a start Tuesday night in Toronto.

Second baseman Chris Getz and outfielder Lorenzo Cain are rehabbing with Omaha and are eligible to return, but that probably won't happen until after the All-Star break.

Yuniesky Betancourt has been playing second base and, through Tuesday, had 19 RBIs in his last 14 games.

"Yuni's doing fine. We'll probably get through the All-Star break and then make a move," Yost said.

Jarrod Dyson and Jason Bourgeois are currently platooning in center field, which was Cain's position coming out of Spring Training. But Cain was injured in the season's fifth game and has yet to return.

"I'd like to see him play three or four days in a row before we make a determination that he's ready to come back," Yost said. "He's doing OK. He's swinging the bat really well, playing good in the outfield, running the bases OK."

KC designates Maier, calls up Adcock, Coleman

TORONTO -- Mitch Maier, a member of the Kansas City organization for 10 years and a backup outfielder for most of the last five, appears to be at an end of that relationship.

Maier was designated for assignment on Wednesday as the Royals brought up two pitchers from Triple-A Omaha: right-handers Nate Adcock and Louis Coleman.

Right-hander Vin Mazzaro was optioned to Omaha on Tuesday night after a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

There's a 10-day period for Maier's fate to be determined, including going through waivers. He left Toronto for home after being informed of the move.

"He's as perfect a teammate as you could ever want on your team," manager Ned Yost said. "He's always ready, always prepared, never complained, just worked hard, just wanted to win."

Maier's playing time had dropped markedly in the last two seasons. In 2011, with Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur playing well and injury-free, Maier got into just 45 games with only 95 at-bats, hitting .232.

A left-handed hitter, Maier appeared in 32 games this season and had a .172 (11-for-64) average with two home runs and seven RBIs.

"We've got so many young outfielders we want to look at," Yost said. "He was a great guy to have on your team as your fourth or fifth outfielder. But being mostly left-handed in the outfield, we needed a right-handed bat in [Jason] Bourgeois and we've got [Jarrod] Dyson, [Lorenzo] Cain's coming back soon and we've got [Wil] Myers on the horizon."

A .248 hitter in his six years and 360 games with the Royals, Maier was an excellent outfielder and once played 190 consecutive games without an error. In 2009, he had 11 outfield assists to lead all Major League rookies.

His busiest seasons were 2009 and 2010, when he played 127 and 117 games, respectively. In those years he found himself filling in for the injured players like Coco Crisp, Jose Guillen, Rick Ankiel and David DeJesus.

A right-handed thrower, he also was used as an emergency pitcher twice with the Royals, pitching an inning at Boston in 2011 and an inning against Cleveland this year. Both were scoreless.

"He was a great teammate," Gordon said. "The last two years he really hasn't got the consistent playing time, but you never heard him complain. He was great in the clubhouse, great for our team chemistry, just a great person in general.

"He was probably one of my first good friends in pro ball. I started off with him in Double-A and played with him for six years. It's sad to see him go, but that's part of the game and I'm sure someone is going to be excited to pick him up, because he's a great player and he's going to make some team happy."

"He worked harder than anybody else in this clubhouse," said third baseman Mike Moustakas. "He was always one of the first guys here, always one of the last guys to leave. A great leader, just a great guy to be around."

Yost believes that Maier could be valuable addition to another team, where he could get more playing time.

"He's a perfect guy for a National League team where you've got to use your switches, he can play all three outfield positions equally well, he can give you a smart at-bat, he's a good baserunner," Yost said. "He does a lot of things really well but you kind of get stagnated when you don't play."

Yost makes Final Vote push for Broxton

TORONTO -- No host team ever has had one of its players win the All-Star Game Final Vote, but manager Ned Yost is trying to rally Royals fans to do that just that for closer Jonathan Broxton.

"We've got two problems here and both problems, I think, can be overcome. But they have to be overcome by our fans," Yost said. "One is you've got Yu Darvish where you've got to deal with the whole country of Japan [voting], but Jonathan's got a pretty amazing city voting for him. Also, it's an advantage to be at home at this time. So we're at a disadvantage, really, in two areas."

Darvish, the Rangers' pitcher from Japan, is obviously getting a lot of support from his homeland. The Royals are in Toronto through the end of voting on Thursday at 3 p.m. CT.

"I think they are disadvantages we can overcome, but the city's got to get behind it," Yost said. "And if the city can get behind it, it's going to take Kansas City fans from all over the country to take the time to vote. Even if our fans can just take 20 minutes a day voting for Jonathan Broxton, I think we can overcome those obstacles."

At last report, Broxton was gaining support, moving up to fourth in the voting, with Darvish on top.

To receive the 2012 All-Star GameMLB.com Final Vote presented by Firestone mobile ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for Broxton, simply text message A1 to 89269. Mobile voting in Canada also is available and fans should text their choices to 101010. Std rates may apply.

Yost was manager of the Brewers when Milwaukee fans pushed outfielder Corey Hart to victory in the Final Vote.

"We did it in Milwaukee, but we were at home and we were able to promote it," Yost said. "It was fresh and it was there. We've got to kind of do it from a distance here but it just showed, being a small-market team, what you can accomplish when your fans are behind you.

"That, really, for the first time showed the baseball world what kind of fans we had in Milwaukee. I see our fans in Kansas City in the same light. We've got a tremendous group of fans that are true baseball fans, they are very educated baseball fans for the most part and they understand how the game's played. And I just feel it would be a real feather in the cap for the city if we can have two All-Stars there. But our fans, quite frankly, are the ones that have got to do it."

The Royals have formed an alliance with the Atlanta Braves, with each organization urging their fans to vote for the other team's player in the Final Vote in the two leagues. For Royals fans, that will mean Michael Bourn, now that the Braves' other candidate, Chipper Jones, has been selected to replace injured Matt Kemp.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.